Managing Oregon's forests

Our Oregon forests are special to us. They provide our drinking water, building materials for our homes, places to recreate, habitat for fish and wildlife and spectacular scenery. They are also economic drivers providing jobs and revenues for our communities. More recently we've discovered these towering forests are world champions at capturing carbon and keeping our planet cooler.

As elected county commissioners, we have the responsibility to give voice to public concerns and interests in how the lands within our county boundaries are managed. With over half the land in Oregon in federal ownership, we recognize the economic and environmental values of our public lands, including their contribution to the high quality of life Oregonians enjoy. Our citizens care so strongly about these lands that they are volunteering and forming collaborative groups and working to ensure that the land stewardship agencies understand how special these forests are to the public. We are listening and we hope federal land managers are as well.

Just over a year ago, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar withdrew the Western Oregon Plan Revision. WOPR was intended to be a blueprint for how the 2.4 million acres of forests in western Oregon -- owned by all Americans -- would be managed. The agency entrusted with the stewardship of the great bulk of these lands is the Bureau of Land Management. As the head federal agency official, Secretary Salazar determined there were substantial concerns raised by scientists, citizens, politicians and other federal agencies regarding the scientific and legal credibility of WOPR. Understandably, he withdrew the plan.

WOPR would have unnecessarily weakened the Northwest Forest Plan that currently governs land management for both the United States Forest Service and BLM in the Pacific Northwest. The Plan was developed recognizing the many benefits forests provide us and that a timber dominant focus in past management had caused serious environmental problems. It was jointly produced by federal agencies, scientists and land managers and found to be legally sufficient by the courts.

The Northwest Forest Plan has enough flexibility to allow collaboration between citizens and land managers in developing forest management proposals that are restoration oriented, manage for healthy forests, and can provide commodities such as wood products for our mills. Indeed, that is the approach the U.S. Forest Service and even some BLM Districts are taking in their timber sale proposals.

Some have recently claimed that as a result of WOPR being withdrawn, very little timber is being produced on BLM land. Our review shows that this is not the case. For example, the Roseburg BLM district is proposing 36 million board feet of timber volume for sale in 2010 The Salem BLM district recently sold over 17 million board feet. Likewise, Eugene BLM district sold over 20 million feet this year. Even with so much of the BLM's resources being consumed with planning the WOPR, board feet are moving from thinning projects on Western Oregon BLM lands.

Unlike what was proposed in WOPR, the timber projects that are being implemented successfully on both BLM and USFS lands do not focus on logging the older forests that Oregonians care deeply about. Instead they focus on protecting and restoring the special values of the forests -- whether it is water quality, wildlife habitat, or recreation opportunities -- and recognize that more often than not, providing timber volume is compatible with the land management proposed.

Oregonians are not interested in the past practice of only seeing board feet when they look at the forest. They want land managers to recognize the multitude of values these healthy forests provide to Oregonians and all Americans. The Northwest Forest Plan is over 10 years old and no doubt needs to be updated to reflect new science and information that is available now. However, any update should: 1) reflect strong coordination and agreement by the federal agencies responsible and accountable for protecting and stewarding our land, 2) ensure a process where the public is actively involved and where agency officials truly listen and respond to the needs and desires of Oregonians for how they want their land to be managed, and 3) focus on the millions of acres of small diameter thinning in second growth and fire prone forests, not on our last old-growth forests.

Fortunately, our citizens are not waiting around for the federal government; they are taking the initiative, forming collaborations and making headway with federal land managers. It's time that BLM recognizes the merit of this pathway and leaves the old polarizing forestry methods in the past. Secretary Salazar acted appropriately in withdrawing WOPR. Let's ensure that future plans capture the ideas, energy and spirit that our citizens are bringing to the collaboration table.

Dave Gilmour is a Jackson County commissioner Dave Gilmour. Pete Sorenson is a Lane County commissioner; Bob Austin is a Clackamas County commissioner. All are O&C counties.